Improvement in fences



UNITED STATES PATENT OEETCE.

RUSSEL PROUTY, OF SPRINGFIELD, IOWA, ASSIGNOR TOJ. ELDER AND J. B.WILSON, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN FENCES.

Specitication forming-part of Letters Patent No. 52,795, dated February20, 1866.

To all whom tt may concern:

Be it known that I, RUSSEL PROUTY, of Springtield, in the county ofKeokuk and State ot' Iowa, have invented a new and Improved Fence; andIdo hereby declare that the followingl is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to makeand use the sanne, reference being had t0 the accompanying drawings,forming part ot' this specification, in which- Figure 1 is an elevationot' my invention Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the same,taken in the line x w, Fig. l; Fig. 3, a transverse vertical section ofthe same, taken in the line y y, Fig. l.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to anew and improved fence of that class in whichpieketsor upright slats are employed; and it consists in a novel mannerof attaching the pickets or upright slats to wires which are secured tothe fenceposts, whereby a very cheap and durable fence is obtained.

A A represent two posts of my improved fence, and B B are two wires,which are secured to the posts A A, one near their upper and the othernear the1r lower ends, as shown in Fig. l.

C O represent the pickets or upright slats, each of which has twooblique grooves or slots, au', sawed in them, the upper grooves, a,inclining upward from the side of the picket, and the lower grooves,tt', inclining downward from the same side, as shown clearly in Figs. 2and 8. The grooves tt a of every alternate picket O are nearer togetherthan those otl the intermediate pickets, C', as will be seen byreferring to. Figs. 2' and 3.

These pickets O O', being thus provided with grooves, are iitted on thewires B B, the latter being pressed into the grooves act', and inconsequence of the grooves of every alternate picket C being nearertogether than those ot' the intermediate pickets, C', the wires B B willbe bent in zigzag form, as shown in Fig. 1.

By this arrangement it will be seen that the pickets are prevented fromslipping laterally ott1 from the wires B B, and are also prevented fromslipping on the wires, the zigzag form ot' the latter. caused by thedifference in the position of the grooves a a of the pickets C O',keeping the latter parallel with each other while the wires are strainedtight, so as to render the i'ence stift' and firm. It will also be`apparent that by ina-king the grooves in the alternate pickets atdifferent distances apart the two wires are made to strain in'oppositionto each other upon each picket.

I am aware that fences have before been made with vertical slats held bywires which engage in oblique notches on the said slats, as described inLetters Iatent granted Septe1nber29, 1857, to J. B. lteyman. This,therefore, I do not claim. Said Reymans fence has, however, been foundseriously defective by reason ot' there being nothing to secure tosecure the slats against sidewise displacement. This defect, whichrenders the fences now in use ot' no practical vaille, I havecft'ectually removed by cutting the notches in every alternate slat at agreater distance asnnder than in the intermediate slats, so that thewires will be forced into the zigzag shape represented in Fig. 1 and theslats eftectually held against displacement without other attachment.

What I claim as new, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

The combination and arrangement herein described ofthe posts A A, wiresB, and pickets or slats O Of, when said. pickets or slats are providedwith oblique notches ct and a. made at different distances apart in thesuccessive or adjacent pickets, so as to force the wires into a zigzagshape and cause the two wires to strain in opposition upon each picket,as a-nd for the purposes specilied.

e RUSSEL PROUTY.

Witnesses:

D. B. FAIRBANKs, WM. TREWIN.

